379: Chapter 379 The Mastermind

Feng Ming smiled slightly, his tone certain: "Is it important how I know? The most important thing right now is to save the King and find the mastermind. If you don't believe me, I'll leave right now and won't bother you further."

"No... sorry, I didn't mean that." Xun Luoyuan panicked instantly, hurriedly wiping away her tears, her eyes full of reliance and trust, "I believe you! You were the one who cracked that shocking scheme in the Imperial Capital back then; you would never joke with my father's life. Since the Master Gu is an evil cultivator, I'll go tell Big Brother Xun to kill him right now!"

As she was about to head out, Feng Ming stopped her again, his tone stern yet helpless: "Why are you still so impulsive? Killing the Master Gu is useless; it will only alert the enemy! He was sent by King Haoyue, but does King Haoyue know? Is he an accomplice? The poison in the King has been there for a hundred years, so it definitely wasn't him who administered it. His presence in the manor must be for some other scheme. Have you thought about the conspiracy of the evil cultivators behind him?"

Feng Ming's questions followed one after another, leaving Luo Yuan stunned on the spot, finally snapping out of her emotional state.

She knew well that impulsiveness would only ruin things. After a long silence, she actually stepped toward Feng Ming, her gaze resolute, forcing him back until he had no choice but to sit on the bed.

Feng Ming retreated repeatedly, feeling uneasy: "Xun Luoyuan, calm down! One wrong move now and the whole game is lost!"

But in the next second, Luo Yuan actually knelt before him, her voice tearful yet incredibly sincere: "Feng Ming, I beg you to help me! I know you are peerlessly clever and can surely save my father! As long as you can neutralize the poison, I will do anything you ask!"

Feng Ming's heart finally settled, and he hurriedly reached out to help her up: "Xun Luoyuan, I also want to save the King immediately, but now is not the time to neutralize the poison! If the Master Gu is under orders to monitor the toxins in the King's body, and we rashly neutralize them, we will surely be exposed and put the King in even greater danger! This matter must be planned carefully."

Luo Yuan had already lost her own resolve and simply nodded: "I'll listen to everything you say! As long as you can save my father, I'll agree to whatever you want, even if it's..."

At this point, her pretty face flushed crimson, and she lowered her head shyly, the rest of her words barely audible: "...even if it's myself."

These words reached Feng Ming's ears clearly, and his face instantly turned bright red. Looking at the ambiguously posed Luo Yuan before him, he was at a loss: "Xun Luoyuan! I know your feelings, but there's no need for this! I will definitely save the King. Please, stand up first!"

Luo Yuan only then realized the awkwardness of her posture. She hurriedly stood up and sat stiffly in a chair, not daring to lift her head.

The atmosphere in the hall was subtly awkward. After a moment, Feng Ming cleared his throat and said seriously: "I told you everything because I intended to help. Although our marriage is fake, my respect for the King is real."

"The Breakthrough for this matter lies with the Master Gu. We need to find out four things: whether he is here for the Child-Swapping Poison, whether the Medicinal Pills are poisoned, whether he knows about the King's poisoning, and whether he is working for the evil cultivators or King Haoyue."

Luo Yuan asked worriedly: "Without interrogating him, how can we find the truth?"

Feng Ming was confident: "Whether the Medicinal Pills are poisonous can be determined by the herbs. If we sneak into his residence and check the Alchemy ingredients, we'll know a thing or two, and we might also find ironclad evidence of him practicing evil techniques."

"Child-Swapping Poison is rare in this world. If there's no trace of it in his residence, it means he likely doesn't know about it."

Luo Yuan's mind was filled with her father's safety, and she followed up urgently: "Then when can the poison actually be neutralized? I can't wait another moment!"

"First, we sneak into the Master Gu's residence to investigate and confirm he hasn't added more poison. Only then will it be safe to neutralize it. Furthermore, after the poison is gone, the King must continue to feign illness to deceive the Master Gu and lull the mastermind into a false sense of security."

Feng Ming paused and sighed softly, "It's just that the King has been poisoned for a hundred years, and his body has suffered immense wear. Even if the poison is neutralized, it will be difficult for his Lifespan to be extended by much."

Luo Yuan's eyes reddened as tears welled up: "I understand. At the very least, we can't let the toxins torture him anymore."

"We'll do as you say. Tomorrow at noon, when the Master Gu goes to deliver medicine to my father, we'll sneak into his residence. He has set up a Sealing Grand Formation there, and only when he leaves can we enter without being detected."

Feng Ming nodded in agreement and solemnly cautioned: "For now, don't tell Xun Yu or Fang Zhao about this. They have impulsive tempers and would surely rush to kill the Master Gu, ruining the entire plan."

Luo Yuan knew their temperaments well and solemnly promised to comply.

The night passed in silence. King Xibei was still worrying about the wedding, completely unaware that he was afflicted by a strange poison and that an evil cultivator was hiding in his manor; Feng Ming and Luo Yuan stayed awake all night, secretly preparing for the next day's operation.

The next day at noon, the sunlight was warm and gentle.

The Master Gu, as usual, carried a jade box of Medicinal Pills and hunched his body as he headed toward King Xibei's sleeping quarters to deliver the medicine. With his withered face, he looked like a common, elderly Alchemist; no one knew his identity as an evil cultivator.

The moment he turned to leave, two ghostly figures darted to the front of the residence—it was Luo Yuan and Feng Ming. With a light touch of her jade-like fingers, Luo Yuan easily broke a gap in the Sealing Grand Formation. The two slipped in quietly, and the formation automatically healed itself, leaving no trace behind.

Upon entering the residence, Feng Ming called Wanyan Lin out from the storage ring: "Investigate carefully, focusing on searching for any traces of the Child-Swapping Poison."

Wanyan Lin spread out her Divine Sense and spoke a moment later: "There is the aura of poisonous objects in the garden lamps, but no fluctuations of the Child-Swapping Poison."

The two immediately went to the garden and opened the cover of a stone lamp, where they indeed found a small ceramic jar sealed with wax.

The moment Luo Yuan broke the wax seal, a highly poisonous black centipede suddenly lunged out, heading straight for her face.

Feng Ming was quick-witted and agile, waving his hand to knock the centipede back into the jar. He said with lingering fear: "That was close. This is a Poison Gu he uses to Cultivate evil techniques, not the poison intended for the King."

The two searched the entire residence. Aside from the Poison Gu in the garden, they found no other poisons, and the Alchemy herbs were all common nourishing substances.

Feng Ming's gaze was grave: "He hasn't been administering poison to the King, but his identity as an evil cultivator is certain. We'll hide here for a day and a night to find out his true purpose."

The two hid inside the storage ring to conceal their presence. Not long after, the Master Gu returned to the residence.

He walked straight to the garden and removed his upper garment, revealing a body covered in dense, shocking bite marks from poisonous insects.

He then waved his hand to open all the stone lamps. Countless poisonous centipedes and spiders swarmed out, crawling over his body and biting him as black Qi continuously seeped from his skin.

"He really is an evil cultivator!" Luo Yuan covered her mouth and explained in a low voice, "This is the crudest Resentment Evil Cultivation Method. It relies on absorbing the resentment from poisonous insects killing each other. It's extremely inefficient, which is why he only has a Golden Core Realm cultivation even now."

Feng Ming understood: "He's afraid of death, so he Cultivates evil techniques to extend his life. He has no intention of harming the King; he's just a pawn sent to monitor the toxins. With the King in his twilight years, the Master Gu is actually safest if he does nothing at all."

The two remained hidden until noon the next day. After the Master Gu hurriedly finished a batch of Alchemy, he went out again to deliver the medicine.

Feng Ming and Luo Yuan finally emerged. Luo Yuan asked urgently: "Is there anything wrong with the Medicinal Pills he refined?"

Feng Ming shook his head after inspecting the medicine dregs: "No poison, but no medicinal effect either. His only concern is prolonging his own life; Alchemy is just a way to go through the motions."

Luo Yuan felt a sense of relief, but then grew tense again: "What do we do next?"

Feng Ming looked toward the sky corridor with a determined smile: "Naturally, we go to see the King, tell him everything, and neutralize the Child-Swapping Poison for him!"

Luo Yuan's heart tightened, her voice trembling: "Can you really neutralize this poison?"

Feng Ming teased: "What, are you afraid that after the King is cured, he'll father more children and fight you for the family inheritance?"

Luo Yuan gave him a light punch, her eyes slightly red: "I'm afraid my father's body won't hold up, and that the time remaining is too short."

Feng Ming stopped smiling and sighed softly: "The King's body has suffered too much damage. Even if the poison is neutralized, it will be hard for him to regain his health. His specific Lifespan will only be known after I check his pulse. But we will do our best and leave the rest to fate. At least he won't have to suffer the torture of the toxins anymore."

Luo Yuan took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and said with a look of determination: "Let's go."

Feng Ming nodded. The two figures took off, turning into two streaks of light that pierced through the clouds, racing toward the sky corridor where King Xibei was located.